GSA would exchange its National Capital Region office building and the unused Agriculture Department’s Cotton Annex in the “Federal Triangle” area of Washington, in exchange for the continued renovation of its headquarters and the rehabilitation of three buildings that are part of the ongoing Department of Homeland Security consolidation.

The headquarters renovation would allow the agency to move 1,500 more employees into its headquarters at 1800 F Street and would boost efforts to consolidate DHS on to the campus of the former St. Elizabeth’s hospital in Southeast D.C.

“The Federal Triangle South project is an opportunity to reexamine how the federal government uses these buildings and reassess how this space fits into the surrounding community,” said GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini said in a press release. “This action will facilitate the city’s efforts to transform this precinct that is dominated by federal office buildings, into a mixed-use neighborhood that will both provide for a modern workplace for federal employees and create a vibrant, diverse, and special community of its own.”

The eventual goal is to turn the Federal Triangle area into an “Eco-district” with shops, restaurants and renovated federal offices — paid for by exchange existing unused properties for construction and renovation services.

A 2005 law authorizes GSA to enter into special financing deals to exchange, trade, lease or otherwise negotiate for new construction or renovation projects.

The deadline for RFQ questions is April 17, 2014. Responses are due by May 22, 2014. The agency will then issue a request for proposals some time in the summer or fall and would finalize an agreement with a developer by the Summer of 2014, accoridng to the agency.